August 3, 2021
Reflection
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Monday, August 2, 2021
Sunday, August 1, 2021
SAN ALFONSO
An inner voice said to him 2 times: “Leave the world and give yourself to me.”
Like we heard from John McGowan yesterday, Alphonsus like St. Ignatius went to a church – put his sword on an altar decided to become a priest.
He studied theology at home and was ordained a priest at the age of 30.
He spent 2 years preaching all through the kingdom of Naples.
Someone said of him, “It’s a pleasure to hear your sermons. You forget yourself and preach Jesus Christ.”
He was neither strict nor pompous.
He worked out of his home – but at 33 he left home and became chaplain at a college that trained missionaries for China.
He met a bishop named Thomas Falcoia – who pushed him towards starting a new group of priests for preaching around Naples. This bishop also asked him to check out by giving a retreat to a nun who was starting a new order of nuns. He did and they seemed legitimate. In 1731 they became the Redemptoristines – with a different name at first. They wore red and blue habits. They were contemplatives.
In 1732 Alphonsus began the Redemptorists – called at first the
Congregation of the Savior. In 1749 – when we finally got approval by Rome – we
got the name Redemptorists – because there already was a group called the
Congregation of Our Savior.
Alphonsus was preaching all over the Kingdom of Naples – especially in small towns. There were a lot of priests at the time – but they liked Naples - the big town. So his group went to the forgotten – the neglected – the poor.Since Alphonsus and his group became so successful – he was criticized.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus wrote a lot of books – 111 in his lifetime.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus and his congregation grew – even though there were dropouts.
Alphonsus put out a Moral Theology textbook – which began as
notes on the work of a Jesuit with the name of Busenbaum. Alphonsus stressed
God’s mercy.
Alphonsus steered a middle
course between the rigorism of a theology called Jansenism and big time laxity.
As a result of staying in the middle –
he was criticized from both the right and the left.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus did music, painting and lots and lots of preaching.
In the meanwhile Alphonsus became a bishop – of a small diocese in Italy called St. Agatha of the Goths.
After retiring from being a bishop, Alphonsus came back to the Redemptorists.
In time he got serious arthritis and needed a wheel chair – as you see him in the statue out on the lawn between the conference room and the dining room.
In time a guy named Clement Hofbauer came down from Vienna, Austria – became a Redemptorist and was sent back to Vienna – to start our group up there on the other side of the Alps.
We started in Naples in 1732. By 1832 – some of those Redemptorists from Austria were sent to the United States.
We reached 9,000 plus – but we’ve shrunk a little to around 5000 at the present time.
I joined the Redemptorists to go to Brazil – but never got that assignment.
We are all around the world – pushing the ideas and ideals, the vision and vocation, of St. Alphonsus. “Forget yourself and preach Jesus Christ.
A key book that Alphonsus wrote was: The practice of the Love of Jesus Christ. He said: “Sanctity – the whole of it can be summed up in the practice of the love of Jesus Christ”– which we hope everyone who comes here to San Alfonso Retreat House – hears and gets – and brings home Christ to our world. Amen.
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